Construction on the Sydney Metro City and Southwest project has reached a major milestone, with track laid for the first rail crossing under Sydney Harbour.
More than 2400 railway sleepers have been laid and 4200 tonnes of concrete have been installed to complete the 800-metre section of track in both tunnels under Sydney Harbour.
More than 4000 tonnes of Australian steel will be used for the 31 kilometres of tracks from Chatswood to Sydenham, including 200 tonnes under the Harbour.
Works have also progressed on the Barangaroo Station, which is now ready for platforms, lifts and escalators to be installed.
The excavation of the Barangaroo caverns, which will house the metro platforms, took almost two years to complete. About 650,000 tonnes of crushed rock – enough to fill 100 Olympic swimming pools – was removed.
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Station builder BESIX Watpac will now fit out the station, creating 300 jobs at the peak of construction.
More than 5000 people are currently working on the Sydney Metro City and Southwest project and about 50,000 will have worked on the project by the time it is complete.
The trip between the new Barangaroo Station and Victoria Cross Station at North Sydney will take three minutes and take commuters deep under Sydney Harbour.
Metro trains will start running through the harbour tunnels in 2024, extending the North West Metro into the city and beyond to Bankstown.
New stations are being delivered at Crows Nest, Victoria Cross, Barangaroo, Martin Place, Pitt Street and Waterloo, along with new underground platforms at Central Station.